Doctor Who: The Reality War Review - 4 Ups & 7 Downs
Doctor Who may have just gone and eaten its own tail.
The Reality War, is, at the time of writing, the final episode of Doctor Who that’s been confirmed to air, and with a lack of a ‘Doctor Who will return’ slate in those closing credits, there’s a world in which we may not be seeing the Sixteenth Doctor for a while.
So, if this was indeed our last hurrah, did we at least go out in a blaze of glory? In my opinion, I’m afraid to say it’s quite the opposite. The Season 2 finale was not without merit, and some may even enjoy it for the very same reasons I did not – more power to you if you did!
In this final edition of Season 2 ‘Ups and Downs’, I’ll take a look at how this once-promising season limped over the finishing line and collapsed into a rather undignified heap.
11. UP - A Moment In Time
Last week, we were left with the Doctor plummeting either to his death, or into the underworld (much of a muchness, really). My wishful thinking had me praying for Rogue to rescue him, whilst the realist in me expected a reset button (which we still got) – what I didn’t have on my bingo card in a million years was Anita from The Time Hotel. She had little to no bearing on the rest of the episode, but I don’t care, I’m just delighted we returned to this character.
As well as seeing these two characters together again, if only briefly, I also enjoyed that brief flashback sequence to past episodes — seeing my boy Eleven again, taking a trip back to the classic era, and making sure the Terry Nation Estate are still on side by keeping to the one-Dalek-a-year deal.
Whilst Anita mostly just held a door open for the next hour, the few lines she had were great, and I particularly enjoyed her constant clarification that’s she’s just in the hotel industry and not qualified to be here. You know who that lack of qualification didn’t stop? Kate. Because guess who got the UNIT job offer this week? At this point, it’s gotten so funny it has to be intentional ‘bit’, surely?
If not, you’d think Kate might have learned the value of an employee screening process after Lucky Day.